Over the weekend my oven started beeping – Error Code 120 – flashed on the screen for the settings.
Like any self respecting homeowner my first step was to ignore it and hope it would fix itself.
NOPE
Then I dug through our pile of manuals to find the right one (taking the time to throw away several for appliances we no longer own). The instructions don’t mention that error code, so I went to the internet.
Searching revealed nothing useful.
So I called.
The woman was very nice, made sure there wasn’t any danger, and said I had to call during business hours that Error Code 120 wasn’t one that she had instructions for.
> it was Sunday, no big deal. it was nice to have someone confirm it wasn’t going to blow up or anything.
Monday comes around and I call… the technician puts me on hold for a moment and comes back with “did you disconnect the electricity for 15-minutes and turn it back on?”
There was a lot that went through my mind in a stream of consciousness: WHAT? are you telling me to control/alt/delete my oven? how would I even think of that, it wasn’t in the owners manual or anywhere online.
My response: ummm no
Technician: try that it usually resets itself
Why am I telling you all this?
Because I think in sales sometimes we ask questions that the prospect or customer is unprepared to hear.
The technician works answering questions on appliances all day long.
> I do not spend all day wondering about my appliances.
The technician has heard about Error Code 120 hundreds of times.
> It is the first time for me.
In sales we need to give a prelude, a softening statement, and introduction to our questions to make the conversation flow.
My mental ramblings would have never happened if the technician had given me a bit of that. One option would have been to ask “what have you already tried to fix this?” To get me in the troubleshooting place I’d been over the weekend.
Or even “This is going to sound strange, did you disconnect the electricity for 15-minutes and turn it back on?”
Bring your prospects and customers along to where you are mentally in the conversation THEN ask your question.
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